The apparatus of the present invention is employed to separate trim from moving air or other fluid medium used to transport the trim.
A common by-product in web converting operations is the formation of trim which may be in either a continuous or chopped form. Trim is commonly created, for example, during converting operations pertaining to paper and nonwoven webs and plastic films. Often such trim is created at a very high rate so it becomes imperative to efficiently and quickly remove the trim from the location of its formation. A common expedient for doing this has been to employ air flows for receiving the trim and conveying to an appropriate location away from the converting operation. It will be appreciated that such an approach creates the problem at the downstream end of separating the trim from the conveying medium. This problem is presented regardless of whether the trim is continuous or chopped.
While a number of separators are commercially available, such prior art units suffer from a variety of drawbacks not the least of which is the fact that they are large and bulky, requiring sturdy supports and large headroom. Also, such units are often expensive to construct and operate, especially those existing separators which require supplemental fans to assist in carrying out the separating operation.